A bargeboard (also barge board or vergeboard) is a board fixed to the projecting edge of a roof at a gable end, running along the rake or verge from the eaves to the ridge. It conceals and protects the ends of the battens, purlins or roof sheathing that overhang the gable wall, and gives the gable a finished edge. Where a gable overhang is created by projecting purlins or lookouts, it is usually capped with bargeboards.
Decorative use
Bargeboards became a vehicle for ornament in several traditions:
- Medieval and Tudor England: carved oak bargeboards on timber-framed houses.
- Gothic Revival and Victorian: elaborate pierced and scrolled bargeboards on cottages, lodges and villas in the UK and North America; the American Carpenter Gothic style is characterised by fretsawn "gingerbread" bargeboards.
- Scandinavian and Alpine vernacular: carved verge boards on timber houses.
Relationship to other parts
At the eaves, the bargeboard typically meets the fascia; the junction may be finished with a small projecting piece (a sprocketed or kicked detail) or a box end. Above the bargeboard, a verge detail seals the top of the roof covering.
Materials and maintenance
Historically bargeboards were timber and needed painting. Modern versions are made in uPVC, composite and aluminium-clad timber. Because bargeboards sit at an exposed edge, they suffer from rot and wind damage, and the ends of the roof timbers behind them should be checked when replacing them.
Terminology
North American builders often call the plain version a rake board or rake fascia, reserving "bargeboard" for decorative examples, while in the UK "bargeboard" is used for both.